On Wednesday, December 2, 2009, workers will start installing bright orange plastic poles to separate two new southbound express lanes from four local lanes.  Installation will begin just south of Miami Gardens Drive and continue nightly until completed. The express lane exit point will change every day until plastic poles reach the southern limit of the express lanes located between State Road 112 and State Road 836.

Drivers are urged to follow these simple safety tips:

• Plan ahead. It is unsafe and unlawful to drive through the plastic poles to change lanes
• Use local lanes If your trip calls for exiting I-95 north of S.R. 836
• If you unintentionally enter the express lanes, stay calm. Do not stop or attempt to change lanes. Proceed south to where you can exit the express lanes safely and turn around

Electronic toll collection in the new southbound lanes will begin in mid January 2010.

Existing Express Lanes - Phase 1A:

Northbound:

The Florida Department of Transportation opened the northbound express lanes for tolling between I-195 / S.R. 112 and NW 151st Street in December 2008.

Users of I-95 – both those using the express lanes and the general purpose lanes – have benefited from significant performance improvements along the corridor in Miami-Dade County.  Before 95 Express, the general purpose lanes and the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes were operating at below 20 MPH during the peak period in the peak direction.  With the opening of Phase 1A, users have seen their travel times reduced and operating speeds for all users dramatically improved to over 40 MPH in the general purpose lanes and 55 MPH in the new express lanes.

The “Tolling & Typical Toll Rates” section on this site provides a breakdown of recent toll rates with associated times of day.  These do not guarantee future toll rates, but give a general sense of how tolls vary throughout the day.  Actual tolls at any particular time are based on traffic conditions.

Upcoming Express Lanes - Phase 1B:

Southbound:

This phase, which includes building two southbound express lanes between Miami Gardens Drive / NW 186th Street and S.R. 836, is well underway.  These new express lanes, commonly known as High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes, replace the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane in this area.

Express lanes are separated from general purpose lanes by plastic poles. Installation of plastic poles is scheduled for mid November 2009. Tolling in the southbound express lanes is scheduled to begin in January 2010.

Northbound:

Phase 1B also includes extending the length of the northbound express lanes by relocating the northbound entrance.  It will be moved closer to downtown from its current location at I-195 / S.R. 112 to just north of S.R. 836.  This improvement will increase the benefit of the northbound express lanes and is expected to be completed by Spring 2010.